1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a medical imaging apparatus and a method of operating the same, and more particularly, to a medical imaging apparatus capable of analyzing a motion of an object based on the shape of a muscle tissue of the object, and a method of operating the medical imaging apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various imaging apparatuses for imaging information about the tissue of a human body are used in many medical areas for the early diagnose of various diseases or surgical operations in this regard. Some examples of such medical imaging apparatuses are ultrasonic diagnosing apparatuses, computed tomography (CT) apparatuses, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatuses.
Ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses irradiate an ultrasound signal generated by a transducer of a probe toward an object and receive information regarding an echo signal reflected from the object, thereby obtaining an image of a part inside the object. In particular, ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses are used for observation of the inside of an object, detection of foreign substances inside the object, diagnosis of damage thereof, etc. Such ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses have various advantages including stability, real-time display, and safety because there is no radioactive exposure compared to X-ray apparatuses. Thus, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses are commonly used together with other image diagnosis apparatuses.
CT is a medical examination for obtaining a cross-sectional image of an object by using X-rays and a computer. During CT, narrow X-ray beams generated by an X-ray apparatus are radiated toward a body while the body is rotated at several angles, so that tomographic images of specific areas of a scanned object can be reconstructed into a 2-dimensional (2D) cross-sectional image or a 3-dimensional (3D) image. Thus, body structures and changes (i.e., lesions) thereof may be more accurately detected by using CT compared to a simple X-ray scan.
MRI apparatuses acquire an image of an object based on information obtained by exposing an atomic nucleus to a magnetic field applied at an appropriate resonant frequency. Resonance of the atomic nucleus refers to a phenomenon wherein the atomic nucleus in a low energy state absorbs energy and is excited to a high energy state when a particular high frequency signal is incident onto the atomic nucleus by generating an external magnetic field around the atomic nucleus. As atomic nuclei have different resonance frequencies according to their types, their resonant states are affected by the strength of the external magnetic field. Also, since there are numerous atomic nuclei in a human body, a hydrogen atomic nucleus is generally used for MRI.